


Dream A Little Dream Of Me

by BattleBelle23



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:47:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25051918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattleBelle23/pseuds/BattleBelle23
Summary: Harry and Lexie, two opposites, meet and it seems to be attraction at first sight.But every night, Harry dreams of Lexie. No, not just sexy dreams. But dreams of them in another worlds, another scenarios, other lives. One thing always remains constant: they fall for each other, always.Another constant? They also never end up together.Seb says it’s because Harry is so into Lexie that he’s worrying too much. Bill theorises it’s his actual life in a parallel universe. Nicky suggests it’s a sign that they’re soulmates.Whatever the explanation, one thing is certain: Harry refuses to let this one end like his dreams.
Relationships: Harry (Love Island)/Main Character, Harry/Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 31





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is a sequel to my previous work, The Power Couple, and will reference my Season 2 MC Darcie DeVille and Lucas from time to time, but this can be read without reading The Power Couple, obviously. Yeah, yeah, I know, the Power Couple isn’t even done yet. But hey, what can I say? I can’t help it! Especially with season 3 out! Don’t worry, I’ll still be working on TPC, obviously.  
> I've been replaying season 2 while I wait for season 3 so inspiration hits a lot haha. Anyways, enjoy this prologue! Hope you like it! 
> 
> The next chapter will be the official Chapter 1 and Harry's first dream. Hope you enjoy!

Harry always thought he knew exactly what kind of girl he wanted: a nice, girl-next-door type, innocence radiating off her, no-fuss, no mess, the kind who kept a romance novel in her modest little purse that she’d knitted herself and wore long peasant skirts. He’d always been attracted to the good girls. Probably because he wasn’t exactly a bad boy himself and bad girls were just plain scary sometimes. It was easier to go after the girl he could easily compliment and earn a bashful smile and shy blush from. He felt like he could be a proper man, the kind his father always ordered him to be, being more assertive and confident even when his natural instinct was to be more introverted.

As the ideal woman, he imagined someone like, say, last season of Love Island’s Hannah or Jen back from season 1. He’d had a huge crush on Hannah prior to her transformation and thought girls like her had been perfect for him.

So, you can imagine his surprise when the complete opposite of soft, romantic good girl walked out into the villa and immediately, all the confidence and false bravado he’s managed to put up so well disappeared with every sound of her black stilettos walking closer towards him.

“Hi, boys!” she waves at everyone and it’s obvious she was that girl. The kind who never left a party alone. The kind who texted three different guys. The kind who could talk and capture everyone’s attention.

She was the most well-dressed out of all of them, wearing a white frilly bikini, a pearl choker with an ‘L’ on it and a see-through black robe that flew behind her with every step she took. Her hair was loose and in perfect old Hollywood-like curls. She didn’t seem to be wearing any make-up save for a brown eyeliner that gave a striking cat-eye effect and red lipstick. 

He gulped. Although he claimed to like good girls, Harry can’t deny, there was something about very stylish women who loved formalwear that got him going.

Another thing he can’t help but notice is despite her small stature, she just looked so mature, despite looking just as young, if not younger than him. It was probably the posture, she seemed to be one of those people who knew how to stand up back straight, shoulders back, chest out all the time without even thinking about it. 

Judging by Bill and Camilo’s eager introductions, Harry wasn’t the only one enamoured. They were completely smitten with her and she smiled back, but she didn’t see to give anything away as to who she preferred.

When he introduced himself to AJ and Elladine, he had been suave and charming, giving them cheesy but cute compliments that made them giggle. 

But when he sees this third girl, it’s as if he’s completely forgotten how to talk. He wondered if it was obvious how nervous he was. A part of him wished Bill and Camilo’s interactions with her were longer so he could prepare himself, but another part was too excited and wanted to officially meet her already.

He takes a step forward, taking a huge gulp and tried to puff out his chest. 

_‘Deep breaths, Harry, you got this…'_

“Hey, I’m Harry.” he says. Short and sweet. “Um, for what it’s worth, I’m just as gobsmacked as these other two. But I won’t try to sway you. You’ve got to listen to your gut. Or your heart. Or…y’know, whatever part of your body you trust to make these decisions.”

He lets out a nervous laugh and thank whatever deity was out there, she seemed to laugh along with him.

“I’m Lexie. I think I’ll like getting to know you, Harry…” she gives him a flirtatious smile and instantly, Harry finds himself nervously scratching his neck, a nervous tick of his he’s tried to stop. He did stop for a while, but he’s a bit surprised to see it return so quickly.

There was something dangerous about those eyes and those lips. She reminded him of femme fatales from black-and-white movies, the beautiful devious women who were a foil to the wholesome, well-meaning detectives who wanted to find out what happened to the women’s husbands.

He’s also surprised to feel how nervous he is as he waits for her choice. It’s hard to tell who she likes more, considering how flirty she seemed to be with Bill and Camilo. And him, of course. Ugh, why would she pick him? He’s not exactly the type girls go for, not when they got big muscley men like Bill and Camilo. But amazingly enough…

“The boy I want to couple up with is…Harry!”

_'No. Freaking. Way!’_

No, he couldn’t be that lucky could he?! Well, apparently he was. He’s almost sure she meant to say his name and not mistake it for Bill or Camilo’s, given how different their names are.

He’s flabberghasted, so he just grins and says, “Nice one!” as she saunters over to him and gives him a slight peck on his cheek.

The scent coming off her is intoxicating. She smells like those fancy perfumes with insane prices, but the kind that smelled so classy and elegant, yet sexy and alluring. He could make out faint traces of coffee and roses. 

She stands next to him, very close and her arm automatically links to his and all he could do is hope it didn’t show just how nervous she made him, though he swears he can feel sweat rolling off his forehead.

“It’s really hot here, isn’t?” he laughs skittishly.

“I think that’s just you, babes.” she grins seductively at him. The compliment rolls off her tongue like second nature and he doesn’t doubt for a second she’s used to saying pretty words like this and he was far from being the first boy to hear them. 

“There’s two more girls, right?” Nicky asks.

“I know, I can’t wait!” Lexie says excitedly, then with a half-joking, half-serious tone, she continued, "As long as they stay away from Harry, we’ll be fine.” 

Harry felt his cheeks flare up immediately. 

“Wow, so committed already!” Nicky said.

“I kinda like it.” Harry smiles, “It’s nice to know Lexie is already feeling it so strongly. I mean, if another boy came in right now and tried to couple up with her, I’d have a thing or two to say about it, as well.”

He sees Bill and Camilo and feels sort of bad for them. It can't be easy not getting picked by the person they wanted. In all honesty, Harry already had it in his head anyway that even if Lexie didn't pick up, he was definitely going to graft on her and see if there was something. He just had to. Something inside him drove him to her, and he's not really sure why.

“It’s obvious they both really wanted to get picked by Lexie…” Elladine says, feeling sorry for those two.

“Hey! Maybe their perfect soulmates are going to walk out of that door any second now!” Aj says optimistically. 

“Come on, that sort of things never happens in the real world.” Seb argues.

“Alright, but this isn’t exactly a normal situation, is it?” Nicky reminded him and Harry’s inclined to agree. “It’s Love Island, where dreams come true!”

“My dreams are way too weird. I’ll be proper impressed if they come true! Well, impressed and scared. I’d rather not have the T-Rex from _Jurassic Park_ run amok in the villa.” Lexie blurts out.

For a second, she looks like she realised she was saying the words out loud and everyone stares at her, somewhat surprised. It was such an odd thing to say and you wouldn’t expect it from a girl who looked like her. Still, everyone couldn’t help but laugh. 

Now was the time to say something smooth!

“I mean, if I were a T-Rex, I’d definitely run towards you.” 

…Well, he tried.

But to his credit, Lexie bit her lip, trying to keep out a chortle, “Well, I suppose I wouldn’t mind _you_ eating me.”

So, she liked bad jokes as much as he did. This was great!

“Whoa!” Elladine exclaimed, even though she looked like she was amused by the whole thing, “We’re right here!” 

Two more girls pop up and none of them really catch his eye. Pretty girls, for sure, and he’s well certain they’re nice, but he was just too busy focusing on Lexie to really notice anyone else. He was still nervous, but now this nervousness was accompanied with excitement. He knew there was definitely a physical attraction, there. But within seconds of meeting her, he was already so curious to see how her mind worked. She already seemed like a laugh and she seemed into him. God, he did not expect things to go so well for him already!

“…Don’t you think it’s a bit too early to say whether our couples are great or not?” AJ says and Harry realises he zoned out during the past few minutes.

Not wanting to seem dumb, he immediately responded, “I dunno…I’ve already got a pretty great feeling about this one.”

“Well, it’s not a competition.” says the petite girl who he later learns is named Miki.

“It sort of is, though. Only the strongest couple wins the 50 grand.” Nicky argues.

“Well, based on first impressions, I think we can all agree Harry and I are the strongest couple.” Lexie jokes, taking Harry’s hand and putting it around her shoulders. 

Again, part of him feels nervous, but there’s a new feeling he didn’t expect. When she grabbed his hand, he automatically twirled her before resting his arm on her shoulders. He pulled her closer and she casually leaned back towards him. It was such a smooth and natural action, neither parties thought twice about it. Which…wouldn’t be so odd if they didn’t just meet.

“Not to bang on my own drum but hard agree.” Harry grins, feeling a little smug if he’s being honest. Look, the girl he likes picked him, she was fit and seemed like a laugh _and_ she wasn’t hiding how confident she felt about their coupling up. Could this day get any better?

Well, apparently, it could. 

They were already on their way for a challenge and Seb complains, wanting to take a nap first.

“True that.” Lexie sighs, “I was just telling Elladine when I first came in I’m starving. I want a snack.”

“Maybe I’m the kind of snack you’re after.” Harry winks at her.

“Wasn’t talking about _that_ kind of snack, but…sure! I can fit more than one thing in my mouth.” she gives him a lascivious grin, and the rest of the islanders groan.

“You’re going to be _that_ couple we both love and hate, I can tell.” Iona jokes.

“Well, in any case, I’m up for a challenge! But warning, I can get awfully competitive…” Lexie warns, a devilish smirk on her lips that somehow makes her look even hotter in Harry’s eyes.

As the islanders made their way to the challenge area, Harry quickly leaned into Lexie’s ear, “I was actually hoping we could chat for a bit.”

“Thought you’d never ask.” she replies.

“Well, I’m asking now.” he smiles. He’s been smiling a lot these past few minutes. His mouth is starting to hurt. “I just wanted to say thank you for choosing me. You could probably see it on my face but you absolutely made my day. You’re blatantly the best-looking girl here.” 

“I could thank you for wanting me to choose you, too.” she says back at him. “If I’m being honest, you were kind of my first choice the second I saw you…”

“R-Really?” Harry stammered, “That’s amazing! I mean, that’s cool. That’s great it’s mutual and all and stuff…Sorry if I’m being weird, it’s just, you’re so…”

“Harry?” she stops him. She began to bat her butterfly-like eyelashes and began to tilt her face towards his.

His eyes widened. He was pretty surprised this was happening already, if he’s being honest. The second she began looking at him like that, he swears the sound of his heartbeat was deafening.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“I have a feeling they’re going to make us kiss in the next challenge. I’d rather our first kiss be on our terms, while I’m trying to shut you up for babbling like a cute dork.” she gives a slight chuckle as her hand finds the back of his neck.

He shivers under her touch, “I can’t argue with that.”

And he’s not planning to. They lean in and at first, Harry is more nervous than anything. Her lips are soft and tastes oddly sweet, like she was wearing lipstick that had a flavor because she knew she was going to snog a boy today. The more he could feel her, the more he felt more of her…he could smell that perfume even more, his hands traveled from her waist to her lower back, he noticed she had faint freckles on her face and that she was on the tip of her toes to kiss him…

He felt her slightly bite his bottom lip, then kissing again before pulling away. Despite pulling away, they both still held each other, hearing each other breathe heavily.

“Gosh, I was not expecting that.” he breathed.

“Did you like it?” she asks and he’s not even sure that’s a serious question.

“Did I _like_ it?! Did I like it? Lexie…I loved it.” Was that too much to say? He felt like it was too much but his motormouth wouldn’t stop running. “Do you think we could do it again, like right now?”

She smiles, but begins to move her hands from his neck and goes back on her feet, “I’d love to, but I’m pretty sure they’re waiting for us.”

Harry groaned, “Can’t we just let them wait?” 

“You know, this is probably going to be a kissing challenge…” she grinned. “Why don’t we make a little bet? The one who finds a way to kiss the other the most wins.”

“Ooh, exciting! But what do we win?” Harry asks.

She just smirks, “We’ll think of something, surely. Well, I’ll think of something because you’re so going to lose.”

“You’re on, beautiful.” Harry grins.

“Race you there!” she exclaims.

“Wha-?” Before Harry could even register what was going on, she was already running towards the other islanders.

He laughs, chasing her, ignoring how everyone else was looking at them curiously. Obviously, she got there first, but he couldn’t help but sneakily put his hands on her waist when he arrived there. 

Fitting that she won this race. Because if Harry was being honest, he could already tell he was a complete goner for her. 


	2. Dream One: Of Kings and Queens I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genevieve picks Harry and Harry gets his very first unusual dream.

Harry’s convinced that Lexie is either psychic or a genius or both because she somehow manages to guess right for every single secret. Including his.

But he has a sneaky suspicion that she would have convinced the girls it was him anyway if she was the one who had to do the kissing. It was mostly because he began to do the same thing.

“I’m going to say it’s Lexie, because you seem really guilty, but mostly because I really wanna kiss you.” he grinned, “You up for that?”

“Of course!” she laughs as they leaned in for their third kiss that day. Behind them, everyone cheered and grinned as they saw how obvious it was that neither of them cared too much about the game anymore and were more concerned with just snogging each other.

“So…thunder, huh?” he jokes as he pulls away.

“You laugh, but give me rain, thunder and Lana del Rey playing in the background and I’ll show you why it can be sexy.” she gives him a sexy grin and already in his head, he can imagine the scenario.

“Really? Um, guys, do we know the weather forecast for this week?” Harry asks excitedly, but Lexie playfully slaps his shoulder and pushes him back to his side.

When it was his turn to play again, the villa got a shock: there was a new islander hidden in one of the suitcase!

Much like the other girls, Harry saw that Genevieve was pretty and she seemed nice enough, but he couldn’t say he was interested. In all honesty, at this point, he’d be very surprised if he did fancy anyone else.

He had to kiss her for the challenge and while it wasn’t exactly unpleasant, he didn’t feel the same butterflies in his stomach or excitement as he did when he kissed Lexie. 

“You okay, hun? You look like you’re gritting your teeth a little…” he hears Iona ask Lexie.

“Oh, I’m fine! Totally fine!” she assures through gritted teeth. Part of him liked seeing her so jealous but the other part was just guilty at making her feel bad.

“So, how was it?” Seb nudged him.

“I’d say that was like…the third best kiss I’ve had today?” Harry said, but then he sees Lexie’s face fall and realises in horror that he and Lexie have kissed at least four times. “I-I mean-“

“Wow, you’re really cracking on.” Seb says and with that, they all receive a text informing them that the game was over.

Harry felt really nervous about what he said, especially when he saw that Lexie suddenly seemed to avoid him, instead walking next to Bill, Camilo and even AJ, casually laughing and smiling at them.

“Is this a bad sign?” he wonders out loud.

“Nah, mate.” Harry jumps a bit as Nicky answers him, “She’s just a bit jealous, not that I blame her, she seems proper into you. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” 

“Yeah, she’s probably just trying to level out the playing field a bit.” Elladine reasons.

“Thanks, guys.” Harry took a deep breath. He wondered how he should fix this…

Internally, he just panicked and as soon as he was close to Lexie, he said the first thing that popped in his head. “Not to sound shallow or anything, but you just look absolutely amazing in your outfit, Lexie.” 

She smiled at him, but it wasn’t like those other times were she had a flirty grin to her. Or was he overthinking this? “Thanks, Harry.” 

He gulped a bit. That wasn’t the reaction he’d expected. He knew he just met her but for some reason, he expected her to say something like ‘I promise I look even better out of it’ and then he’d say ‘I don’t doubt it but that’s something I’d need to see up close’. So, she was a little upset probably. 

Well, he couldn’t exactly blame her…Perhaps this was a sign that he should give her some space. He didn’t want to be that guy, overbearing and all already. But the truth was his instinct was to go to her and shower her with compliments and praise until she understood that she was his first choice. 

Instead, he opted to wait and stay quiet.

A tactic that, he would later discover, was not the best idea.

* * *

As the new girl, Genevieve has first pick and to his astonishment, she chooses him. 

“It is what it is.” Lexie shrugs and she seems unbothered by it, which sort of hurts Harry more than it should.

“I can’t believe this.” Harry said. He didn’t want to sound so annoyed, but he couldn’t help it. Genevieve seemed nice but he couldn’t understand why she chose him when he made it blatantly obvious that he liked Lexie. Didn’t he? I was blown away when you picked me. It’s like I’d won the jackpot. And now we’re not a couple, less than a day after that…”

Lexie blinks at him and gives him a sad smile. She didn’t seem that upset, but the second Harry got up to leave, she took his hand and dragged him back to his seat.

“Agh! My bum! These cushions are weirdly firm!” he exclaimed, looking back at Lexie, completely confused. She seemed totally nonchalant about the whole thing, then she went and did this.

“Sorry…” she murmurs, embarrassed.

“Hey, don’t worry. Look, I’m only going to be over there.” 

“But that’s not here.” she says softly and it absolutely breaks his heart to have to walk away from her. He has half a mind to tell Genevieve that he’s not coupling up with her and he’s staying put where he is.

But she didn’t deserve that and once again, he didn’t want to come across as too clingy or anything. So instead, he walks to Genevieve and gives an awkward hug.

After the coupling ends, he watches as Lexie asks if she can chat with Genevieve for a second. She agrees and to his relief, it doesn’t end in some huge brawl. In fact, he actually sees them both laugh and end the conversation with a hug. But it’s obvious Lexie’s not feeling great about it. 

He wants to chat with her at first, but as soon as Lexie and Genevieve break apart, the latter makes a beeline towards him and asks, “Can we have a chat?”

Harry’s about to ask if that can wait, as he desperately wants to talk to Lexie. But instead, he saw Lexie walk towards Seb and both go away to chat for a bit. For some reason, he doesn’t feel too worried or envious. He sensed that there was some kind of friendship there. But his true fear was what would Seb advise Lexie? Would he tell her to keep pursuing Harry or to crack on with somebody else? 

So, instead, he decides to talk to the girl he’s supposed to be talking with in the first place. He tries to muster a smile, “Of course.” 

This morning, he envisioned his first night differently. He was excited to flirt with Lexie later on, then cuddle with her in their bed. Obviously, that wasn’t happening. He and Genevieve sat on the daybeds and he can’t help but compare how he is with her versus how he as with Lexie. He and Lexie had only been coupled up for a few hours, but already they were so touchy and flirty and the conversation flew like fine wine, yet it still had the excitement of a new and budding relationship.

Here, he just felt awkward, but he tried to hide it because that wouldn’t be fair to Genevieve. “I’m really sorry, but I had to go with my gut and out of all the guys, I liked you the best.”

“Hey, that’s okay. I mean, I’m flattered, obviously, you’re well fit and you seem like a really nice girl…” Harry trails off, realising that in fact, Genevieve was exactly the type of girl he first envisioned going for prior to Lexie’s arrival. Genevieve seemed soft-spoken, nice, and friendly, but still smart. Yet there was no attraction there.

“But I’m not Lexie.” Genevieve gives him a sad smile. 

“Oh, please don’t say that!” Harry panicked, “Don’t compare yourself to Lexie. I mean, you’re both lovely and I’m extremely lucky to be picked by you. But it’s because you seem so nice that I have to be honest with you…I really like her. And I’m not opposed to getting to know you, obviously, but she is my first choice.”

Well, she’s his only choice, but Harry didn’t like the idea of adding salt to the wound. He was already having a hard time telling Genevieve this, but he felt like he owed it to her, rather than lie. 

To her credit, Genevieve nodded, understanding completely. “I get it. All that I ask is that you give me a fair chance. And I’m not saying I’m putting all my eggs in one basket obviously, I’m not opposed to getting to know the other lads here either, but I’d still like to get to know you the most.”

“Thank you for understanding. And yeah, I get it and of. So…” he began awkwardly. He meant to start a conversation but for some reason he just completely blanked. He waited for a few more seconds to pass, looking at her and hoping perhaps she’d initiate a conversation. Instead she blinked at him and shuffled, keeping the smile on her face. Seems like she was just as awkward about this whole thing as he was.

Well, they’re off to a great start.

“You’re a junior doctor! That must be great.” Harry quickly says.

“It is.” Genevieve agrees, “So you’re a business student? What made you want to pursue business?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. You see, I’m all about success and innovation. But I find that I keep having these ideas and dropping them. I need to keep my focus longer…” he admits, somewhat embarrassed. Truth be told, as a business student, he was often surrounded by rich kids and people who had their whole lives either planned for them or figured out at an early age. Him, however, he just chose business because it interested him the most and it was the only subject that invoked some kind of passion in him.

“I’m sure you’ll find your niche and be successful.” Genevieve assures him and Harry thanks her but for some reason, he finds himself feeling a bit…’meh’ at her response. It just seemed so generic. The kind of response you’d give just any other person who said the same thing he did.

Ah, he’s being unfair. He wouldn’t act this way if Lexie had said the same thing now, would he? Although, he doubts Lexie would have just said what Viv said. Well, then again, how can he be sure of that? He doesn’t really know her, now, does he? Just because he felt like he did doesn’t mean he did.

A few more minutes pass and Harry feels like the conversation never got any better. They were like two strangers too afraid to say something too critical so they just ended up Yes-Maning each other. Genevieve seemed to like it but Harry never did like when someone just agreed with him on everything. 

Still, it’s early days. So when everyone heads off for bed, he tries not to be too obvious about his disappointment. Although it’s hard, given how Lexie’s bed was coincidentally right next to his and Viv’s.

They all say their goodnights and he noticed how he had some fierce competition. Bill, Camilo and AJ all sat on Lexie’s bed at some point and chatted for a bit. It was obvious they were all flirting and the worst torture of all is that Lexie seemed to be flirting back sometimes. 

“Psst. You should chat with her for a bit.” Nicky nudges him when he, Seb and Harry are brushing their teeth.

“I want to, but I feel bad. The chat with Genevieve didn’t go that well earlier and I feel like if she saw me crack on with Lexie right in front of her, she’d feel worse.” Harry shook his head.

“Fair enough. But better make your move at some point. Things in this villa move fast. Blink and you might miss her.” Seb advises him before he leaves.

When the lights went out, Harry didn’t feel like cuddling Viv. He felt bad, but he just couldn’t cuddle her knowing he had his mind set on Lexie, especially when she was but one bed away. 

He turned to his side and realised she was also facing him. She had fallen asleep and was a combination of sexy and adorable, with an oversized sweater that still revealed her shoulder and short shorts that showed off her legs. 

She buried her face in one pillow and used another pillow to spoon. Oh, how he wished he was that pillow…

It was so odd sleeping next to someone he didn’t really know. Even odder when he considers how excited he was to sleep next to Lexie, who was another person he didn’t know. 

Sleep did not come so easily for him. He began to regret his decision to not talk to Lexie. Surely, he could have found some time. Perhaps when Viv was brushing her teeth or something. But he didn't and now he wondered if he lost his chance.

Amidst these troubling thoughts, Harry finally found himself falling asleep...

* * *

_It was the eve of the annual masquerade ball, courtesy of the King himself. Lord Harry had always been obligated to attend these things, although he hardly rejoiced in them. Although he is proud of his accomplishments and he does not exactly detest politics, he, like many others, cannot stand the King himself._

_The King was known to be temperamental, foolish, childish and often unkind to those who were not born of royal descent. He had lived a privileged life and it showed through both his words and his actions._

_Despite his hatred for the King, Lord Harry would not have missed this ball for the world._

_Because the King’s bride-to-be was also there._

_Princess Alexandria Koh was not the smartest marriage the King could have chosen. After all, she came from a country that already had good ties with their country. There was no advantage to political marrying her. But the King was absolutely enamored with her. How could he not be? She had been unlike most ladies at court: quick-witted, extremely intelligent, and talented in the arts. Not to mention, she had the legendary charm of a Koh descent._

_But few people in history will ever know, before the King fell in love with Princess Alexandria Koh, Lord Harry did first. The love that had grown so many years ago. For a while, Harry wanted to ask Alexandria to be his betrothed. But he was too late and ever since, he had been full of regrets._

_Her wedding was soon. In the coming summer. But on this spring eve, Lord Harry decided he cannot keep his silence anymore._

_He came to the masquerade with a mission. That night, he saw the Queen-to-Be wore a grand ballgown the color of faint sunlight, with pearls adorning her neck and an intricate gold mask in the distinct shape of a fox. She was easily the most eye-catching woman there._

_Harry watched, slowly suffering as the King danced with her. But she had seen him. And every once in a while, she would steal glances at him._

_After what seemed like forever, the song finally ended and the King danced with another. A disrespectful action, but one that the Princess did not pay attention to. After all, her eyes were only on Lord Harry’s._

_As soon as the King left, she immediately made her way to the balcony outside. She gives him a quick glance, which he knew meant he must follow._

_And so he did and as he saw her there, in the moonlight, he couldn’t help but feel both amazed and heartbroken. He felt such joy just being in her presence, yet he knew their situation was dire._

_“Your Majesty.” he bows._

_“Lord Harry, I am so pleased to see you tonight.” she beams at him._

_“The world could not have stopped me, my Queen.” he says earnestly._

_“I am not Queen yet, my Lord. I am still a Princess, that is until this summer…” she says softly._

_Harry disagreed. “You are and have always been my Queen.”_

_"So, I hear congratulations are in order.” she changes the subject, then shoots him a furtive smile that suggested she was only smiling so no one would suspect her of being displeased. Well, a bit more than displeased. “Lady Genevieve is a fine match. An intelligent woman, after all, and a friend of mine. I am sure you two will live a long and happy life together.”_

_“She is a good woman indeed and any man would be fortunate to be hers.” Harry agrees, wishing no ill will on his bride-to-be. “But not myself. My own heart lies with another…”_

_She tried to conceal her smile, “Be wary of saying such things, my Lord. One might think you plan to commit adultery.”_

_“’Tis not adultery if there is no marriage. And as lovely as Lady Genevieve is, I did not choose her. She chose me and I, unfortunately, could not control anything as she is in a higher position of power than me.” Harry explains._

_“A situation I know all too well.” she says sadly._

_Before he could keep it in any longer, Harry finally said what he’d been dying to ask her._

_“Run away with me.”_

_“W-What?” she stammered._

_“You never wanted to be the King’s wife. You wanted to study science and philosophy and spend your days studying the human mind! You know the King will never allow you to flourish. You must leave, Lexie…” he says, using the intimate name she’d only allow those closest to her to call her, “And I must be selfish tonight, as I am asking you to leave with me. Lady Genevieve is a good woman and as she is your friend, I dread to hurt her, but I would be hurting her even further by deceiving her into thinking she is my soulmate when I love you…”_

_“Harry, what you say is treason! The King will find us! He’ll wage war on my country! He'll-“_

_“The King is foolish, but his cabinet is not. His advisors will tell him that waging war on your people would result in a great war. Everyone knows our country's alliance with your country is the only reason we are so powerful, as every other nation abhors us. He will not harm your loved ones, nor will he sever ties with your people.”_

_“You’ve thought a lot about this…”_

_He nods. “Lord Nicholas and Lady Elladine know. They are my closest friends and they’ve informed me they will help any way they can. You know just as well as I do that their families are second only to the King, but twice as beloved.”_

_“’Tis true and Prince Sebastian, my dearest friend, has been cheering for our love and hates the King. He will shelter us should we require it.” Lexie nods, “My brother, King Lucas and his Queen Darcie, they are a powerful couple together. Should the King challenge them, I’ve no doubt they will win the fight, easily.”_

_"See? We will be protected and there is far too much to lose if we don't act now!" Harry exclaims._

_For a while, Lexie looks convinced, but she shuffles her hands nervously. "Oh, Harry…these violent delights have violent ends…”_

_“But the true violence is marrying another and risking your unhappiness.” Harry says._ _“I should have been yours, Lexie. A fortnight before the King met you, I planned to ask for your hand in marriage. I was foolish, too shy in my love and as a result, I let you slip through my fingers. I regret my inaction with every fiber of my being. But the past is past and I can only control my future, which cannot be complete without your presence.”_

_“Alright, Harry. I trust you…” she breathed and Harry let out the breath he’d been holding in for so long._

_He smiled. “When do we leave, my Queen?”_


	3. Bringing Sexy Back

Harry woke up by the sound of bashful giggles. “Harry, wake up…”

He didn’t want to. He wanted to go back to his sleep and try to see if he can catch that dream of his again. But he was already up, later than his usual time, actually. He usually woke up at 5am, but today it seems like he slept in. Well, then again, it’s not everyday you had a wonderful dream that made you want to stay asleep...

For a while, he feels a bit disoriented, then he remembers he’s on Love Island and he’s in bed with a gorgeous girl. Just not the gorgeous girl he wanted.

“Morning, sleepyhead." Genevieve smiled at him, “You were murmuring in your sleep…"

“I was?” Harry said, shocked. Of course it’s not exactly something he would realise but he never knew he was a sleep-talker. 

Oh, but his dream was divine…But then he remembered who he was sleeping next to and panicked. “Um, what did I say?”

“I didn’t catch all of it, but at some point, I heard you say, ‘ _when do we leave, my Queen_?’” Genevieve recited and giggled. 

A surge of panic hit him. “Oh, that, um, I-“

“No need to explain, Harry. I thought it was cute. It’s not everyday I get to be called Queen.” 

Oof. Well, this was awkward.

“Right, well, it’s what you deserve.” Harry smiles and he does mean it, truly he does, even though it may not come from him, Genevieve was definitely the sort of girl who deserved to hear it. 

“You’re sweet.” she smiles, then looks around. “Everyone’s up, except for Lexie.”

He glanced over at Lexie. Despite having her hair in disarray, one leg and one arm falling off the bed and her covers all over the bed as if she had spent the night tossing and turning, he still found her irresistibly cute. 

A pout came on his face when he realised how badly he wanted to lean over and cuddle her...

“Let’s wait for her. I’d feel bad if she had to wake up alone.” Miki says across the room. Beside her, Bill agrees and Harry’s tempted to roll his eyes. Of course he does. They all wait a few more minutes and all realise they were getting terribly hungry, but Lexie was still fast asleep.

“Maybe we should all just get into a bed and spoon her.” AJ suggested.

“Nah. She looks like the kind of girl who would maul us if she caught us on her bed just like that.” Nicky laughs.

“Well, I can’t wait any longer.” Seb decides. Before anyone could ask what that meant, he took his pillow and threw it at Lexie’s head.

“Huh?” she mutters as she got up.

Harry wanted to be the first to greet her, “Good morning, sunshine.” 

“…Were you all waiting for me? Or watching me?” she questioned.

“A little bit of both.” Harry admitted sheepishly. 

Still, when they explained the reasoning behind it, Lexie beamed at it, “Aw, you guys, that’s so cute! I’m a pretty heavy sleeper…”

“We noticed.” Iona laughed.

“On that note, who threw this at me?” Lexie asked as she held up a pillow. They all pointed at Seb and she immediately threw it back at him.

“Ow! Wow, good aim.” Seb complimented. “Now come on, let’s all get some breakfast.”

Everyone nodded as they all got up to prepare for the day. When Harry stood up, he did so in almost perfect synchronisation with Lexie and for a second, she stared at him, blinking, as if he had a second head attached to him. It was sort of bizarre seeing Lexie in front of him considering his dream from last night. It seemed so real, yet he knew he was dreaming, like he was seeing a movie of him and Lexie.

She just gave him a half-smile, half-smirk and sauntered over to the girl’s dressing room while he went to the boys’ bathroom.

“I had the strangest dream last night…” Harry confessed to Nicky and Seb when Bill and Camilo were out of earshot.

Seb raised his eyebrow. “Oh? Do tell.”

“I dreamt I was a…not exactly a prince. Some kind of Lord or something and I was in love with a King’s bride. Anyway, I convinced her to run away with me.” he explained.

“Aw, look at that. Harry’s a proper romantic.” Nicky gushed.

“It was a lush dream.” Harry sighed dreamily, but then remembered the awkward awakening, “Apparently I talk a bit in my sleep. Viv heard me and she thought I was dreaming about her and calling her ‘my Queen’.”

“No, duh. You were dreaming about Lexie.” Nicky stated and Harry spat out his toothpaste onto the mirror, which made all the boys groan as he quickly wiped it off.

“Oh, God, don’t tell me Viv heard me say her name!” 

“Relax. I’ve got ears like an elephant. My hearing’s crazy good. You do talk a lot but it’s a lot of murmurs most of the time and you can barely make it out. And you only said her name once, so you’re safe” Nicky explained, “I guess Viv only heard the last part of your dream.”

“Well, that, and even I guessed it was about Lexie.” Seb snorted, “Kinda obvious with the way you stare at her and the way you kind of pie Genevieve off.”

“Ugh, is it that obvious?” Harry groaned, putting his hands on his face, “I swear, I am trying to make it work with Viv, but we just…I don’t know. We don’t mesh well, you know? And I know I’ve only spent like an hour coupled up with Lexie but that hour is already my favorite time since I came here.” 

“Well, listen, it’s not that bad.” Nicky assured him, patting his back.

“And it’s early days.” Seb reminds him, “Next coupling is boys’ choice, so you can choose whoever you want.”

Wait, what?

“Oh, God, that’s even worse!” Harry exclaimed, “I know I still like Lexie but ever since that kiss with Viv, she seems to be cracking on with half the villa already. I might be a proper melt for a girl who’s not even thinking twice about me! But what if she does still like me? What if I want to choose her in the next coupling but Bill or Camilo go first? I’m pretty sure they like her, too! Oh, no, what if they add another lad and he gets first pick and he picks Lexie?! That’s so unfair! What if it’s this constant thing where we’re almost together but then-“

Harry immediately stopped when a splash of water hit his face. He immediately shut up and saw Nicky standing with an empty cup.

“…Thanks, mate.” Harry muttered.

“No problem. You needed it.” Nicky nodded, putting the cup down, “Listen, breathe. You’re overthinking this too much. This isn’t like your dreams where it’s do now or die later. If she does get chosen by someone else, you’ll just have to graft on her so she chooses you next time.”

“I shouldn’t be saying this because she’s already my best mate in the villa, but I have to say: I really doubt she doesn’t want you to pick her. She likes you, mate. Really likes you. The only reason she’s grafting on everyone else is because she’s convinced you don’t like her.” Seb explains.

Harry’s eyes widened, “What?! How can she possibly think that? I fancy the pants off her!” 

And wouldn’t mind actually seeing the pants off her…

“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you haven’t talked to her at all since you coupled up with Viv?” Nicky points out.

“Well, I meant to, but then Viv pulled me for a chat and I just didn’t want to seem rude…” Harry says softly.

Seb sighed, “Look, mate, I get it. You want to do right by Viv and that’s admirable. But this is Love Island, not Friend Island. If you want to couple up with someone, go for it. And honestly, Viv’s a sweetheart. She’ll understand.” 

“I did tell her.” Harry remembered. “But she still wants me to give her a shot, which is fair. I’ll spend some time with her.”

“Fair enough.” Nicky shrugs, “Just remember, the more time you spend avoiding Lexie, the more she’s going to crack on with others.”

Harry gulped. So that was his challenge, finding a middle ground between it all. 

* * *

Okay, so he was meant to find a good balance between spending time with Viv and grafting on Lexie.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t start with the latter.

…Especially when she was wearing that ridiculously sexy red ensemble. 

She was by the kitchen, chatting with Nicky, Seb, Genevieve and Elladine. He had no clue what they were chatting about, but he could only hope Nicky and Seb were somehow wing-maning him while being subtle about it given how they were in front of Viv. 

At some point, he watched as both Nicky and Seb glanced at each other with a surprised look on their face after they heard something Lexie had said. Ugh, what he would give to be a fly on that wall. 

He watched as Lexie sauntered over to the pool, towards Miki and Iona and like some kind of puppy, he followed her.

Remembering what Nicky and Seb told him, he decided to make the first move, “Hey Lexie! How’s it going?” he cringed, feeling like he sounded a bit too eager.

“Not too bad.” Lexie replied, “Sun’s shining, I’m free and single and I’ve got a Villa full of hotties to graft on. Still, it’d be nice to have someone to cuddle up with.”

“Oh. Anyone particular in mind?” Harry asks.

_Please say me, please say me, please say me..._

She shot him a cheeky grin. “You.”

_YES! Okay, play it cool, say something cool and smooth, like-_

“That’s well good news.” he blushed.

_'Well good news’? Are you a man grafting on a woman on Love Island or are you a patient talking to his doctor after finding out his tests came back negative?_

He quickly cleared his throat, “I was worried you might have changed your mind.”

“Nope. I don’t exactly give up that easily.” Lexie said.

“Good, because I’m into you as well, obviously. I mean, who wouldn’t be?” he chuckled nervously.

Her smile disappeared and she bit her lip, “Well, don’t let Genevieve hear you say that. Wouldn’t want you third best kiss feeling too bad.” 

“About that…” Harry groaned, “I wasn’t really thinking. I mean for some reason, I had it in my head we only kissed twice so…”

“Oh? My kisses are that forgettable?” she fake-pouted.

“Of course not!” Harry laughs, half-serious and half-laughing at her cute expression, “In fact, they’re kind of all I can think about lately.”

Lexie looked please, playing around with her arms behind her back and swaying flirtatiously, “If my kisses have that effect on you, imagine what I can do once we share a bed.”

_Dear Lord, woman…_

“That’d be nice to experience.” Harry smiles, putting his hand on his neck nervously, “But, yeah, it’s early days. Genevieve is great but I fancy the pants off you, too. I mean, you’re total fresh mozzarella.”

_‘Fresh mozzarella’? Why on earth would you say something like that! Your uni mates are going to roast you alive when they see this! Also, what kind of compliment is that?!_

“Um, thanks?” she laughed awkwardly, “I think you’re…sharp cheddar!”

Harry burst out laughing, “Soz, it’s a thing from my uni mates. I know it’s lame, but it means like, you know. A really, really fit girl.” 

“And sharp cheddar means you’re a really, really fit guy.” her smile then turns into a devilish smirk, “Who I wouldn’t mind having in my mouth.”

He swore his jaw dropped but then he felt a splash of water on both him and Lexie. They both turned their heads to see Miki and Iona playing around.

“Lexie! Come on in, the water’s so nice!” Miki squealed.

For a second, it looked like Lexie was about to canonball in. But then she took a look at Harry and began to smirk. Slowly, she began arching her back and moaning, bending down at the edge of the pool, grabbing some of the water between her hands and as she slowly began to stand up, she poured the water over her chest, letting the droplets trace down her entire body. 

“You’re right, water feels amazing on me…” she says in a moan that could have rivalled most internet videos. 

Once again, she slowly bends down, then quickly glances over her shoulder and catches Harry staring at her backside, before sliding into the water. When she emerged from the water, she did so in almost slow-motion, pushing her wet hair back and once again giving an exaggerated moan. 

Accompanied with her full red lips, wet skin and sexy swimsuit, Harry immediately turned red and could feel that he needed to be out of public view…like, now.

“That was…wow. I…I think I’m gonna go see what Viv’s up to. Bye!” he says quickly as he ran towards the villa, hearing the laughs of the girls.

Oh, please, they all know he was heading towards the shower.


	4. Souffle Pancakes

When Harry came back from his impromptu shower (thanks a lot Lexie), he felt as fresh as a daisy and walked towards the pool again. To his disappointment, Lexie was no longer there. Miki and Iona were at the edge of the pool, though, and right before Harry could leave to go find her, Iona called his name.

“Hey, Harry! How was Viv?” she grinned.

He blinked, confused. “Huh?” 

Miki giggled, “You said you were going to see Viv right after Lexie did that super sexy pool entrance. Surely, you went to go see her and didn’t do something else, right?”

“Right…” Harry said nervously, “Uh, anyway, I should go.” 

“Lexie’s busy,” Iona decided to save him some time.

“What? No! I mean, I wasn’t looking for her specifically or anything…” Harry babbled.

“Sure, Harry.” Miki nods, but both she and Iona look at each other and giggle. 

“But like, out of curiosity, where is she?” Harry asks.

“Talking to Bill and Camilo.” Miki answers as she looks over their direction.

Harry’s heart falls as he follows her gaze and sees Lexie, standing provocatively one hand on her hip and the other playing with a strand of her hair. Bill and Camilo looked absolutely taken with her and though Harry couldn’t hear their conversation, he had no doubt they were somehow fighting for her affections.

“He fancies them.” Miki says sadly, “They both do…”

“Well, it’s not Lexie’s fault.” Harry defends, “She is single, after all. She’s gotta graft.”

Yes, yes, Harry knew it would have been in his best interest to push Miki and Iona’s jealousy even further so that they would keep Bill and Camilo away from Lexie. But that didn’t feel right. He didn’t feel comfortable manipulating friendships like that and he certainly wouldn’t like it if Lexie ended up choosing him out of some default. 

Iona shook her head, “Oh, no, hun, you misunderstood. We’re not mad at her or anything. That’s the name of the game, innit? But that doesn’t mean we’re not upset about the fact that the lads we like don’t fancy us.” 

“I’m sure they like you girls. You two are lovely!” Harry compliments.

“Aw, thanks, babes.” Miki smiles, “But you should really keep cracking on with Lexie. It’s a win-win: less competition for me and Iona and we get to be happy for our friend!”

Harry just sputters, “I don’t-I mean, I’m not trying to-“

“Oh, come on, mate, we all have eyes, we know you fancy her.” Iona grins, “Even Viv knows, given how you’ve spent this whole morning focused on Lexie and not on Viv herself.”

With the realisation that Iona was right, Harry quickly scoured the villa for Genevieve this time. He told himself he would make a balance between grafting on Lexie and spending time with Viv and he hasn’t even thought of Genevieve this whole time! He’s such a moron!

As if by some sort of divine intervention, he did eventually find Genevieve…talking with Lexie.

I mean. If he was killing two birds with one stone, it’s not his fault they happen to be talking right? Still, he didn’t know whether to be excited or worried. He didn’t want Genevieve to think he wasn’t trying but at the same time he definitely didn’t want to look too friendly in front of Lexie. 

“Hey!” he greets, trying to sound as casual as possible, “What smells so good?”

“I’m cooking some frittatas for everyone!” Genevieve announced. 

“Awesome! I’m starving!” he said eagerly, realising how his stomach’s been rumbling lately. He quickly glanced at Lexie, who bit her lip and looked at her feet. Oh, if only he could ask her what was wrong…

“Could you pass me the coriander?” Genevieve asked.

Oh no.

“Um, sure. Here you go.” Harry handed her the herb and tried to hide his disgust. It’s clear Genevieve was excited about making the whole villa breakfast and he really didn’t want to make her feel too bad.

She ran off, asking Harry to keep an eye on the meal. What once looked amazing now seemed a bit tainted and Harry couldn’t help but frown, realising that he once again had to just eat bread like yesterday.

“What’s up?” Lexie asks.

“I really didn’t want to say it to Viv, but I really, really hate coriander. It tastes like soap. I don’t think I can eat this.” Harry sighed.

Lexie blinked, “Why didn’t you just tell her to leave a little piece without coriander?”

“I didn’t want to make her feel bad.” Harry said sheepishly.

“Yeah, but now what are you going to eat?” 

Harry looked around, grabbing a loaf of bread and showing it to her, “This, probably…”

“Well, now that’s just silly.” Lexie shook her head. “You wouldn’t have made her feel bad if you just casually asked, ‘do you mind not putting coriander on one of the frittatas, babes?’. Viv’s nice, she would have just said ‘okay’ and you could have had a proper breakfast.”

“I know, I know. I guess I was just afraid of making her feel upset.” Harry reiterated.

She smiled softly. “I understand, but you should stand up for yourself a bit more. Don’t make yourself unhappy just to please others, you know? Especially when what could make you happy won’t exactly hurt anyone.” 

Briefly, he wonders if she’s still talking about the breakfast or something else. Still, it is good advice in general. He supposed he tended to care too much about what other people thought of him. It’s why, sometimes, he had difficulty telling the truth of how he felt. There were so many times where he ended up doing things he didn’t want to do just because his friends or his family expected or wanted him to do it. 

Perhaps, this villa could teach him more than just finding love. There’s definitely room for this villa to change him a bit.

“You’re right. Next time, definitely.” Harry smiles.

“Good! In the meantime, why don’t I teach you to make something?” Lexie proposed.

So, a cooking lesson, food and spending time with Lexie? 

“That would be mint!” Harry grinned from ear-to-ear.

“Awesome! How do you feel about Japanese souffle pancakes?” Lexie suggested.

His eyes widened. “Whoa. I swear I’ve had those a few times when I went on holiday. Aren’t they a bit difficult to make?”

Lexie waved her hand, “Nah. The secret is separating the egg whites and making it into a meringue, then mixing it with the pancake batter. Here, I’ll show you, could you grab two bowls?” 

Not wanting to waste any time, he eagerly grabbed two bowls and put it on the kitchen island next to the stove. She had instructed him to separate the egg whites, put some flour and sugar in one with yolks and mix. Later on he began to whisk the egg whites, but had a bit of difficulty making it into a ‘meringue’, as Lexie said.

Suddenly, he felt Lexie’s body pressing into his from behind. Her arms slid around his waist. With one hand, she grabbed his hand holding the whisk and with the other, she leaned against the counter in front of Harry, purposely leaving as little space as possible.

He couldn’t help but look over his shoulder and smile at her. “Hi, there.”

“Hi, back.” she grins, “Just thought I’d teach you how to whisk properly. You gotta do it a bit faster to get a whipped cream-like texture.”

With that, she slid her fingers in his and they both held on the whisk as she showed him the proper technique. Harry decided to be a little brave and slowly move his free hand over the hand Lexie had been using to lean against the counter. She widened her fingers and let his slip between hers, and both of them squeezed their hands.

_This is really nice…_

Harry wasn’t even focusing on the cooking anymore. He was just amazed at how calming Lexie’s touch was. And how soft her hands were. They were literally softer than bread. 

_Oh, God, don’t say that, or she’s gonna think you’re a melt._

It seemed to be over too soon, as Lexie quickly pulled away, “We should, um, get to cooking these before Genevieve gets back.”

_Oh, true._

After that, they just seemed to be messing around. Her demonstration of a souffle pancake was absolutely perfect, but when it came to Harry’s, one side was dark brown and the other was light undercooked yellow.

Which only caused Lexie to erupt in laughter, “How is that even possible? Over and undercooked at the same time, I can’t!” 

“It is not that bad!” Harry protested, but then looking at his compared to hers was…well, okay it was that bad. 

“Oh, I’m teasing, I mean it could be worse.” Lexie said, blinking, thinking of ways it could actually be worse. “You could have set the kitchen on fire! Well, side on fire and the other side completely dry somehow.” 

“Ha ha ha, very funny.” Harry drawled, “Where’d you learn to cook this stuff anyway?”

“I asked my family’s personal chef to teach me when I was young. This was the very first thing she taught me to make. Not soup, not fried egg, not ramen, but a freakin’ souffle. It was her way of trying to challenge me. Took me ages to get it right.” Lexie explains.

Harry raised his brow, “Your family had a personal chef? Wow, posh. Especially if she made souffles."

“Ha, not that big of a deal, she didn’t come often…” Lexie’s cheeks turned pink, then immediately, she seemed like she was dying to change the subject, “So! Let’s eat?”

Harry wanted to know why she was suddenly so jumpy but he didn’t press the matter. Instead, he grabbed a plate for them and they both dug into their souffle pancakes.

Despite the appearance, his pancakes were light, fluffy, jiggly and absolutely delicious. “Whoa, I can’t believe I have made this! Thanks so much, Lexie.” 

“No worries. Any chance I get to show off my cooking skills is a bonus for me.” she grins as she digs into hers.

He couldn’t help but stare at her. He was so confused. She was all flirty, telling him things about her personal life, teaching him how to make breakfast and yet, she grafted on other people. Yes, he knows, she’s single and all and she’s allowed to. And he knows that this morning she said she liked him, but still, he wondered where he stood...

“Hey, Lexie…” he began, taking a deep breath, “I know I’m coupled up with Genevieve, but you and me…there’s a spark there. Right?”

Lexie smiled and it looked like she sighed, relieved, “Yeah, there is…I mean, I did tell you this morning, you’re still the one I want.”

“And you’re still my first choice, I meant it.” Harry smiled, “I know I owe it to Viv to give her a chance, but I really do like you and I want to get to know you better.” 

“I know. But you have to understand, Harry, even though I do really like you, I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I’d hate to end up really liking you only for you to fall for Genevieve or even someone else…” she explains, her voice getting unusually low.

“I get it, completely. I mean, you don’t really know me and I don’t really know you, so it’s not like I expect us to trust each other that much. But I just wanted you to know that I honestly think there’s a very small chance of me liking someone else as much as I like you, which I know is crazy since it’s only day two, but…” he could feel his cheeks getting warm.

Lexie began to grin, moving closer towards him, “Are you blushing?”

“I can’t help it! You’re just so…fit.” he wanted to slap himself. He wanted to be all suave and romantic but somehow around her, his tongue just gets tied and he has the vocabulary of a six-year-old.

“That’s beautiful. Is that Shakespeare?” she laughs and so does he, despite himself.

When the laughter dis down, though, they realise just how much closer they were when they first started to eat. He could feel her thighs touching his and realised her hands were on his arms.

“You, um, have a little something there…” she laughs, pointing to the corner of his mouth.

“Here?” Harry asks, wiping around his mouth.

“No, more like…” she came closer, putting her hand under his chin. “Here.”

She gently pressed her lips against his. Harry heard the clanging of the fork on the ground as he dropped it. She tasted a bit like the sweet pancakes they just ate and once again he could faintly make out that scented lipstick that reminded him of cake or vanilla, the same one she wore the first time they kissed.

He just wished they could go on forever. But they both knew it was only a matter of time before Genevieve came out, and they both pulled away, breathless.

“Whoa…” he says.

“That was pretty special…” Lexie says in agreement, seeming just as lost for words as he was. But she was still the first to focus back into the real world, as she cleared her throat and began to get rid of the plates. “We should, um, put these away. Hide the evidence, so to speak.”

“Right.” Harry agrees, smoothing his hair out and starting to wash the pans and bowls. “You know, I really enjoyed our time together…I hope we get to spend more time like this. Away from the others.”

She gave him a conspiratorial grin, “Maybe we should sneak out.”

Harry froze. “You mean like…run away?”

“Yeah, exactly.” she grinned, “I bet Seb can send us food and blankets. Elladine and Nicholas will help, too. The whole villa probably will, really. We can go find another island, live our days drinking Sex on the Beaches and having sex on the beach…”

He laughed, but there was a part of him that was in complete disbelief in how familiar this conversation was. Perhaps one day, he’ll tell Lexie about his dream.

“Well, when do we leave, my Queen?” he decided to recite the exact words he used in his dream. 

At first, Lexie blinked at him, giving him an odd look. He cursed himself, realising that it probably sounded weird, especially without context. But before he could tell her to forget what he said, they both heard Genevieve call out to the islanders before she came to the kitchen, “Who wants breakfast?!”

They both dispersed, giving each other a sneaky smile as neither of them ate Genevieve’s frittata. In all honesty, Harry was kind of surprised at how much time they had to make an entire breakfast and talk to each other for so long uninterrupted. Then he saw Nicky and Elladine wink at him and he realised that perhaps they had something to do with it.

He made a mental note to thank them later. As he watched everyone eat their breakfast, his gaze would go towards Lexie and it was as if the taste of pancakes and vanilla was back on his lips...


	5. A Game of Dares and Some Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie has Seb and now, Harry has Miki.

The new game began when Iona stole Nicky’s water bottle and ran off like a thief in the night. They all read their dares and Harry cringed at his.

**‘Get into your favorite sex position with any islander.’**

Given how his favorite was cowgirl, he’s not sure how to do that without it being awkward. As competitive as he was, he’s not sure he’s that eager to win.

Lexie, on the other hand, had a lascivious grin on her face as soon as she read her first dare and immediately began to howl like a wolf. Fitting, given the fact that Harry thought she was a she-wolf.

“You okay, hun?” Seb asked.

“Oh, yeah. Just limbering up.” she grins and shoots Harry a look that said she was definitely going to perform a dare on him.

Evidently, not just yet, though, as she immediately spun and left in search for someone or something in the villa. In the meantime, Harry looked nervously at Genevieve, who seemed to have finished her first dare, which apparently led to a bucket being stuck on Bill’s head somehow.

He figured she was the best person to do this first dare with. Apparently, she had the same thought in her head as she approached him, “So, I kinda need your help for this next dare…”

“Oh? I’m all ears.” Harry nods.

“I need to do a grind-a-thon on someone for three minutes.” 

Well.

“Uh…sure!” Harry said, uncertain. Well, this killed two birds with one stone: he gets Genevieve to sit on him and he finally spends some time with her as he promised.

They sat in the kitchen, or more precisely, Harry sat on the counter as Genevieve began to straddle him and grind, “Okay, three minutes…”

So, okay, he can’t lie and say this didn’t provoke some kind of reaction. Genevieve was an attractive girl, after all, and she was grinding on him, of course he was a little turned on! Despite this, it was an awkward kind of turned on. He felt like he was a teen again, uncomfortably trying to figure out where to put his hands and hoping it didn’t show just how much he was turned on.

But then, he began to hear something that made it downright impossible for him not to be completely turned on.

“Oh, God, yes!” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Camilo giving Lexie a massage. With every touch, she made very loud noises that one would easily mistake for something else had they not seen her.

Jealousy crept on up him, but then he remembered it was the dare. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a little jel. Why didn’t she dare him to do that massage? He would have well liked hearing her moan like that…

“Oh, right there, more! More!” Lexie screamed.

Instead, he decided look away and focus on Genvieve’s hips. But although he saw Genevieve, he heard Lexie’s moans. Then he began to wonder what Lexie would sound like if she was in Genevieve position. Not just for a dare, but for real…on top of him, feeling him deep inside her, burying her face in the crook of his neck as he thrust…

“I think you’re enjoying this…” Genevieve grinned as she undoubtedly felt how hard Harry was getting.

“Right…” he only breathed, trying very hard to focus on Genevieve, but it was so hard to do so now that he had the mental image of Lexie in his mind. What did she sound like? What did her face look like before he would kiss her as she was riding him? It started to get way too hot all of a sudden, until-

He spotted Lexie walking towards them and immediately he began to stand up, causing Genevieve to fall over. “Oh, um, hi, Lexie!”

She raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious, no doubt seeing he was turned on. But of course, how would she have any way of knowing just why he was really turned on?

“Harry! Why’d you move? I was just getting started in the grind-a-thon!” Genevieve said.

“Oh, sorry!” he apologised as soon as he realised he made her fall over.

Lexie did not look pleased. At all. She seemed to be biting her inner cheek and pursing her lips the entire time. If Genevieve noticed, she didn’t comment on it. “Hey, Gen, you know your perfume? The Estee Lauder one? I saw Seb messing about with it. I think it’s part of his dare.”

Genevieve looked horrified, “Not my perfume!” 

With that, she began to run towards the villa. When she did, Lexie looked at Harry, lips pursed and obviously annoyed.

“Was that even true?” Harry wondered out loud.

“Oh, yeah. Seb has some kind of dare involving perfumes and I told him that if he even thinks about touching my Chanel, he’s getting his man-bun cut in the middle of the night. I was the one who convinced him to go and use Gen’s perfume though.” she said sneakily, but then looked a bit disappointed, “Or…should I have not?”

Horrified, Harry began to sputter, “No, no, no, that wasn’t-I, I mean, I don’t, she-it was her dare and-“

“Relax, I get it.” she chuckles, although it mostly seemed like she was trying to brush off how jealous she was, “All in the name of the game, right?”

“Right…” Harry began, but he could see she was still a bit upset, so he couldn’t help but try to fix things, “But really, it was just-“

“I have one last dare.” she interrupts. “I have to kiss someone. One point for every kiss.”

Oh.

“And I just realised, this whole time, I’ve only really kissed you. Haven’t really cracked on with anyone else, which is kind of a shame, don’t you think?” she says slowly, trying to assess his reaction.

But I don’t want you to, is what he wants to say, but he knows that would be selfish of him. He did, after all, kiss Gen. 

He didn’t know what to say and before he knew it, Genevieve came back, “Caught Seb red-handed! Thankfully, apparently he only needed a few spritzes for his dare so I didn’t mind lending it to him. Anyway, where were we?” 

“Uh-“ Harry was about to come up with some excuse not to, but next thing he knew, Lexie stormed off and seemed to make a beeline towards AJ.

He watched as Lexie pressed her lips against AJ’s, who giggled and blushed. Lexie winked at her, waving goodbye before heading off inside the villa, which he knew for a fact Bill was inside. And with the way she sauntered in over there, he had no doubt that he knew why she was going in there.

Suddenly, Harry didn’t feel like playing very much. Why was she being like this? It’s not like it was his choice! It was the game and she knew that all too well. He was so confused. He thought she liked him. He told her this morning he liked her. Why was everything so difficult? Why was she going off with everyone else?

“Harry? You okay?” Genevieve asked.

Harry felt his head getting hot, “Yeah, yeah, sorry, Viv, I have to do another dare.” he lies as he quickly darts towards the pool and cannonballs into it.

He sighed, relieved as he felt the cool water touch his skin, imagining all of his frustrations washing away. He let himself float back into the surface, staring into the warm blue sky. God, but that girl drove him crazy. He had issues sometimes, especially with anger, but he never got so wound up as he did seeing her kiss someone else. He was jealous, overwhelmingly so, and upset, even though he knew he had no right to be.

But then again, he could say the same thing about her. 

“I’ve got a text!” he heard someone say. He began to swim back and met up with all the Islanders and had to admit…this was a pretty funny sight. 

Seb and AJ were tied together by AJ’s bikini, Bill was covered in a bucket and kiss marks, Nicky was wearing lipstick…he noticed how Lexie and Camilo walked towards the gang together, Camilo in a dream-like daze. 

“Islanders,” Nicky read out loud, “Tonight, the boys will a cook three-course meal for the girls! #husbandmaterial #waytomyheartisthroughmystomach!”

A second beep came and Lexie looked at her phone, “Lexie, as the winner of this challenge, you get to pick one Islander to go shopping with you for tonight’s dinner.”

For someone who was usually so chatty, competitive and just won the challenge, Lexie was surprisingly quiet and looked a bit upset. Harry felt his chest tighten a bit, watching her. He knew it had something to do with him. He wanted to pull her aside for a chat and apologise. But what good would that do? Technically, they already spoke about things, yet they still got upset over each other again.

“Seb, come with me?” Lexie asks. Everyone seemed to have glanced at Harry in surprise. They all expected Lexie to choose him, after all.

“Alright, but I don’t know the first thing about cooking.” Seb shrugs as he and Lexie both go into the villa to get ready.

“Huh, that was weird.” Miki, ever the one who was unable to read the room, popped up. “I was sure she’d pick you, Harry.”

“Same. Did something happen between you two?” Nicky asks and Harry would have loved to answer, get some perspective on things, except Genevieve was right there and it was obvious she suddenly looked upset.

He just couldn’t do anything right today.

“Nothing, everything’s fine.” he grumbles as he grabbed his water bottle and made his way to the pool once again.

It seemed obvious he was ticked off and he felt bad. He didn’t want to make things awkward for anyone or anything. But he also felt like he needed to be alone for a while. At the same time, he was desperate to ask someone, anyone about this. He’d love to ask Seb, but he was out with Lexie and knowing Seb, he’s too close to Lexie to give an unbiased opinion. In a weird way, Harry was happy for Lexie, that she had Seb to lean on. It was nice to know she’d made a good friend in the villa.

Luckily for him, his prayers were about to be answered from a very unlikely source.

“So, riddle me this…” Miki starts as she jumps into the pool next to him, “Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy and girl obviously like each other. A certain friend of girl caught her kissing said boy this morning over breakfast…and somehow, boy ends up getting turned on by other girl and girl ends up snogging half the villa by the time afternoon hits. Care to explain?”

And that’s how Harry spent the afternoon telling Miki his tale of woe. He also clued her in on his weird dream from last night, to which Miki responded with wide eyes and astonishment, “You had a dream about Lexie being a Queen and running away together?!”

“Yeah, why?” Harry asks.

“Nothing! Nothing, that’s…interesting.” Miki simply said. “But anyway, going back to the subject. Wanna hear my thoughts? I mean, Nicky and Seb are great, but they’re not girls so they don’t hear what goes on in our locker room and they don’t know how a girl thinks.”

“Please, be my guest. Any help would be great at this point.” Harry groans.

“Well, here’s the thing…you do know who Lexie is, right?” Miki began.

“…What do you mean?” Harry asked, confused.

“Her last name is Koh. As in Alexandria Koh. As in, the little sister of Lucas Koh from Love Island season 2.” Miki revealed.

Harry nearly dropped his jaw at the realisation. Of course! They even looked alike! They had some of the same mannerisms, same accent, even had that same move of ‘coming out of a pool sexily’ thing. 

But then, he realised something else, too…

Last night, when he dreamed, he could have sworn he heard ‘Queen Alexandria' mention Lucas, her brother, and Darcie…He knows for a fact he’s never talked to Lexie about past seasons or even heard Lucas was her brother. How on earth did he dream her saying it?

It also explained so much! The Kohs were a pretty affluent family. It explained why Lexie accidentally revealed she once had a personal chef, then was quick to change the subject. But he didn’t understand something…

“I didn’t even realise! But how did you know? Did she tell you?” 

Miki scoffed, “Please! I’m a vlogger! It’s my job to know these things! I knew everything about the previous winners: Jake Wilson, Paige Pierce, Lucas Koh and Darcie DeVille. But you can tell she’s a rich kid: the way she walks and handles herself, the quality of her clothes, the fact that she brought over make-up from Chanel and has skincare from La Mer!” 

“La Mer?” Harry repeated, assuming that meant she was very rich. “Okay, but…why didn’t she tell me?”

“Well, same reason she hasn’t told anyone, probably: she doesn’t want anyone to use her.” Miki deducts.

“‘Use’ her?” he repeats.

Miki gave him a sad smile, “I’m not exactly in the Koh’s social circle, but I go to Cambridge and she goes to Oxford. We Oxbridge people know about each other. You know what I’ve noticed? Lots of people fawn over Lexie. They all want to be her best friend, her new boyfriend, her new girlfriend…Even I followed her on social media before! It always seems like a lot of people use her, though. They post a lot about her, comment on each other’s profiles, then one day, people who are close to her miraculously end up like super famous or successful somehow: they get their dream jobs, they go to these lush places, they meet all these beautiful people…and when that happens, they unfollow Lexie. Stopped talking to her. Stopped posting about her. Stopped hanging out with her.”

“…Oh.” Harry let out, beginning the piece together the puzzle. He thought about how Lexie always seemed so hot and cold: one second seeming incredibly into him, the next wanting nothing to do with him. She always seemed to want to get close to him yet everytime she did, she backed away somehow. 

“Here’s what I think: she likes you, but she’s probably worried you’re like everyone else.” Miki concludes, “And I don’t blame her. One second, you say you like her but the next thing you know, you ignore her the whole night, she’s always the one coming to you never the other way around and you let Genevieve straddle you for all of the villa to watch! Your actions have to match your words.” “Plus it’s not exactly a secret that you’re like, this super ambitious and competitive person and you’re both on a game show where the prize is 50k. No wonder she’s nervous, she’s a rich kid with loads of connections! Of course she’s scared you’re gonna use her! Wouldn’t you be if you were her?”

“I would, very much so….” Harry bit his lip, “I…didn’t realise any of this. I just thought she was a big flirt and playing games with me.”

Miki shrugs, “She’s a Koh, Harry. Fifty grand is what she gets for Christmas in a card every year and she doesn’t seem to care that much about fame. She seemed really into you from Day One. We all teased in her in the dressing room because you two seemed so well-suited for each other. She looked both excited and terrified about it all. Then Viv took you away and we all saw how down she was that first night when you didn’t even try to talk to her. After Day One, she always tried to play it off like ‘yeah, whatever, I’ll go for Harry but if he doesn’t like me, no big deal’, but we all saw how her face lights up everytime she’s around you. Basically, I think she really does fancy you, but she’s trying to be cautious, which is why she’s cracking on with everyone else, keeping her options open as long as you’re not with her.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Harry said, genuinely impressed at Miki. “Huh. You know, I wouldn’t have guessed, but you’re pretty observant.” 

Miki giggled, “You don’t end up with 8 to 10 million followers on every social media platform and still remain loved and unproblematic without having a little bit of brains. But seriously, Harry. If Lexie didn’t like you so much, she wouldn’t be so conflicted. Everyone can see you and Lexie are gaga for each other, so do us all a favor and just get together already! And um, please do it soon. Seb and I've got a bet going on with Iona and Elladine and I bet you guys would finally be together by tomorrow. If we lose, I have to give Iona and Elladine one of my Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes each and Seb has to cut his man-bun.”

Harry was shocked, “Seb is _that_ confident in Lexie and me?” 

“Yep. He’s really willing to risk it all. Don’t let him down.” Miki laughs, “And forget his man-bun, it’ll grow back! If I lose my UB first edition palette, which by the way is now discontinued, _and_ my Cherry palette, you and Lexie owe me a new one!…Or I’m stealing Lexie’s Honey palette."

Harry laughed, “Right…thanks, Miki. This really clarified things for me. This will make it a lot easier.”

“No problem! And remember what I said…stop telling her, start showing her! Tonight’s your chance!” Miki winked at him as she pranced away. 

Harry smiled. He liked Miki. She reminded him of his little sister who had insane people skills and could read someone easily. Although now that he thought about it, in reality, Miki’s advice was not too far off Nicky and Seb’s initial advice: stop waiting for the right time and go after her.

He frowned. This, of course, meant he’d have to hurt Viv in the process. At the very least, he’d had to avoid her snogging him or trying to do anything with him. 

Well, he decided, all’s fair in love and war, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I totally changing the prizes/structure of the days? Yes m'am I am. Why? Because I can XD


	6. Dream One: Of Kings and Queens II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner gone wrong, the second part of Harry's dream and a little heart-to-heart..

That night, Seb and Lexie came back with a bunch of ingredients, ones simple enough for someone to make: pasta, a bunch of veg, assorted fruits, some minced meat, cheese, potatoes, etc…

Unfortunately, they soon later found out that they were all useless in the kitchen. Completely and absolutely useless. Don’t blame Harry! He was in catered halls in uni! He never needed to learn how to cook! The closest he came to cooking for himself was getting some ready meals or making a sandwich. 

Still, as he looked around, everyone seemed just as clueless as him: Nicky was doing some sort of weird blending of various veg, Bill was completely mucking up the bolognese sauce and Seb, well, the less said about Seb, the better. Camilo, on the other hand, seemed to be the only one who had a clue what he was doing. Combine this with the fact that they were all wearing their best outfits, it was a recipe for disaster.

The girls came over and Lexie was wearing this absolutely gorgeous short blue sleeveless summer dress and Harry couldn’t help but stop what he was doing to stare at her for a moment.

“Harry, the pasta!” Bill cried as the pasta water overflowed and sizzled as it hit the stove. 

“Oh, crap!” Harry panicked as he grabbed the bowl and quickly ran towards the sink with it.

He could hear Lexie giggle in the background, “Um, do you guys need some help?”

“No, no, we’re fine! Absolutely fine! You girls just sit down and prepare to be amazed!” Harry declared. Two seconds later, one of the pans burst into flames.

“MAN DOWN, MAN DOWN!” Bill screamed in panic. 

As calm and at ease as a school teacher dealing with a bunch of screaming children, Camilo casually walked over to Bill’s station, not even stopping his casual whistling that he’d been doing this whole time, grabbed the pan, dropped it into the sink and turned on the water. The fire died down in seconds.

“…Thanks.” Bill mutters.

With that, the girls walked away, both laughing and slightly fearing for whatever was in store for them at dinner. 

_'They were right to be afraid…_ ' Harry thinks as he looks at the end result: mushy pasta, some odd green substance and just watermelon. Oh, and Seb's sole onion. 

“Well, lads, I think it’s safe to say we’re all getting dumped tonight.” Nicky declared, putting his arms around the boys who all huddled together and watched the food like they were at a funeral and watching a casket.

“Yep.” they all declared in unison, except for Camilo, who was still checking on something in the oven. “I wouldn’t worry so much about it. I think I’ve made enough of these to feed two whole villas!”

The mood was pretty pessimistic. They all felt a little embarrassed, all being 20-something-year-olds and barely able to cook. The girls probably won’t make that big of a deal, but they couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed in themselves. Harry, in particular, was devastated. He’d wanted to impress Lexie so bad. But all he had was this sad excuse for a meal…

His eyes darted towards Lexie and surprisingly, she seemed to stare at him at the exact same time. Their eyes met and she gave him a sad smile. It was a smile that told him she still wanted him but she was unsure of a lot of things. He knew he didn’t exactly show her he liked her that much. But something about seeing Lexie in that moment filled him with a lot of inspiration. He just really wanted to see her smile and he vowed to do anything he can to make it happen.

With a sudden burst of energy, Harry stepped forward and turned his back, looking at the boys. “Guys, come on, we can act moody and be sad about this or we can at least make the girls laugh tonight! I say we can still have a good night tonight, regardless of the food. So, are we going to be those lame sore losers that sour the mood or are we going to be those fun well-meaning lads who gave those girls the best worst dinners of their lives?”

Everyone laughed, but they all agreed, raising their fists in the air and suddenly very motivated and cheerful. “Alright, no one act all bitter…” Nicky advised.

“Let’s just all play dumb a bit, they’ll laugh at that.” Seb suggested.

“Maybe we can even convince our girls we’ll make up for it later for dessert…” Bill winked.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s go!” Harry exclaimed. They all cheered and grabbed the dishes with newfound energy, eagerly jogging towards the girls with their food.

The reactions were…as expected. But thanks to Harry’s advice, they did manage to make it a pretty funny affair. By the end of it, everyone was just laughing. 

Lexie, bless her heart, decided she wanted to be brave enough to taste what Harry and Bill made. She took a spoonful and tried not to looked too frightened as the goop just slid on the spoon. She instantly put it back down.

“I don’t get it…what smelled so good?” Miki asked.

Huh. She had a point. Something did smell weirdly good and Harry knew for a fact it wasn’t any of their food.

Turns out, Camilo had made these amazing pastries that the girls practically moaned over. Harry saw a look of jealousy spread through each boy and he knew they were all bitter that Camilo made something that impressed all the girls so much. 

So, okay, after Harry had a bite, he had to admit…yeah, it was pretty delicious. The dough was perfectly light and airy, the meat was flavorful and it was beautifully presented. 

This would have been a perfectly pleasant evening. If it weren’t for Harry being the one to take out the dishes.

…And spilling the pasta all over Lexie.

“Oh, God, Lexie, I am so sorry! It was an accident!” he said, completely horrified and embarrassed. Out of all the girls he could have dropped it on, it had to be Lexie! Just his luck!

“My Moda Operandi dress!” Lexie exclaimed as she looked at her pretty blue dress, now covered in pasta. 

He was terrified she’d be mad at him. But to his surprise, instead, an evil grin grew on her face, something that was simultaneously scary and sexy.

“Lexie…what are you-“ next thing he knew, his face was covered in pasta.

Within seconds, they both started a food fight and were clearly aiming at each other. After a couple of accidental throws, the entire villa was involved in the fight.

“We need to stop, this is madness!” Genevieve screamed but she said so while laughing and throwing a tomato over at Seb.

“Madness? No. THIS. IS. LOVE ISLAND!” Lexie roared as she grabbed a bowl full o the green muck and splashed it across at every guy. The girls cheered.

Soon, it turned into girls versus boys as Lexie and Harry respectively grabbed a table and put it down, using it as cover. They all began to grab whatever they could and throw it, with Lexie and Harry acting as some kind of ringleaders. The entire villa seemed to be covered in _something_.

“Alright, men, tonight, we dine in hell!” Harry proudly shot his fist in the air and was met with the war-cries of every man in the villa as they all raised their forks like they were…um, pitchforks. As for Harry himself, he completely took off his tuxedo jacket and used it as some kind of cape that he tied around his neck. Several of the boys had used their ties as head bandanas, while the girls seemed to use their lipsticks as war paint across their cheeks. 

“We were already dining in hell the moment you lads began cooking in the kitchen!” Lexie fired back.

“Hardy har har.” Harry said sarcastically, although he had to admit, that was a good one.

“I’m going in, cover me!” Seb yelled as he grabbed a plate and a fork, marching forward and using them as a shield and spear. 

But Lexie looked completely unbothered. With an empty watermelon on her head as a makeshift helmet, she immediately turned to AJ. “AJ, you’re my strongest soldier, attack!” Lexie commanded.

With a war-cry that sounded terrifying despite AJ’s usual human labrador-like personality, she immediately charged towards Seb like some sort of battering ram and tackled him to the ground.

“ARGH! Brothers! Avenge me!” Seb cried. 

“YOUR SACRIFICE WON’T GO IN VAIN!” Harry declared before turning to the other lads, “Onwards, brothers, to victory!” 

They all cried as they all charged at once.

“FLANK THEM, SISTERS, LET’S GO!” Lexie ordered as they all ran around the boys and pelted them with more food. As strong as the boys were, they were no matched by the combination of insane speed, agility and not to mention, well, AJ and Iona being literal She-Hulks.

“We’re outnumbered, Captain! And we’re suffering too many casualties!” Camilo told Harry.

“Avenge the fallen, Camilo! Do it for Sebastian!” Harry motivated, “Look! They’re running out of ammo!”

The girls began to realise in horror that Harry was right. But then, salvation came in the form of Lexie who had a basket full of uncooked pasta.

“Cheers, love, the cavalry’s here!” Lexie proclaimed as she quickly grabbed fistfuls of pasta and began launching them at an impressive machine gun-like speed. With an insane amount of energy, all the girls shot them all with pastas.

Unfortunately, some of the girls had been taken out, namely Gen and AJ. On the boys’ side, Seb, Camilo and Bill were out, leaving only Harry and Nicky, Harry and Nicky managed to take out Miki and Iona after finding some cheese stuck on the table, but then Lexie immediately shot Nicky back with the last remaining dried pasta.

“No, Nicholas!” Harry exclaimed dramatically as he knelt over Nicky.

Nicky pretended to cough, “Captain! You’re the sole survivor…Take out their leader. Take her out and victory is ours…Do it for our boys.”

“I will, Nicky! Rest in peace…” Harry bowed his head solemnly. Then, with a huge grin, he grabbed the piece of watermelon Nicky had in his hand that he intended to hit Lexie with. He turned towards Lexie, who began to laugh.

“You’ll never take me alive!” she stuck her tongue out as she began to run.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Harry ran after her. Despite her being fast, she could only go so far in heels. He did catch up to her, grabbing her by the waist and tackling her to the ground until they both fell and she was on top of him. He grabbed her wrists and pressed them to the ground and they both erupted in laughter while the boys cheered in the background, taking this as a sign of victory.

“Hey, you got me.” she smiled at him.

Harry smiled back and leaned in against her ear, “I always will.”

He swore he could feel her shiver under him. When he pulled back up and stared at her, he couldn’t help but think of how lovely she looked. Yes, even with cheese in her hair, her face sticky from all kinds of watermelon and tomatoes, her wrists coated in green, her makeup in disarray and two lines of red lipstick across each cheek mimicking war paint, he could still honestly say she was the prettiest girl in the whole damn world.

“You sure about that?” she smirked.

“Huh?"

Before he realised what was happening, she quickly squeezed his torso with her thighs and flipped him on his back. She then grabbed the half-a-watermelon she was using as a makeshift soldier hat and immediately put it over Harry’s face.

“MY SISTERS, WE ARE VICTORIOUS!” she proudly declared, standing up from Harry and jumping up and down.

“And we did it all while wearing heels.” Iona chirped smugly.

The girls are ran to her, hugging each other and cheering. The boys laughed and helped Harry on his feet, patting his back and still cheering him on, “Last man standing, you did your best, mate.” 

“Thanks, men. It was a pleasure fighting alongside you.” he said.

"We're a dramatic bunch, aren't we?" Camilo said as everyone laughed. 

The whole thing was so over-the-top and childish, but still, it was the most fun they've had in a while. It was cute getting into their inner child. As they all entered the villa, Miki hopped up to Harry and elbowed him suggestively, “Well, Lexie might have won the battle, but there’s still time for you to win the war.”

Harry laughed, “But tonight was a good first step, right?”

“Deffo. Good start! Don’t make me lose my eyeshadow palettes, now.” Miki warned as she ran up to Bill and immediately latched onto his arm as he teased her with the bits of pasta in her braid.

He looked over at Lexie, who was helping Iona shake off some watermelon seeds in her body. 

Later that night, they all took long showers and after all that food fighting, they were exhausted. Everyone was absolutely knackered and fell asleep almost instantaneously. Being this tired, they all slept like a baby.

But not all islanders would have a peaceful sleep...

* * *

_“He knows.”_

_Lord Harry was awakened by two large guards grabbing him by each arm and dragging him out of his bed in the middle of the night._

_The night before he and Princess Alexandria were meant to run away._

_“What is the meaning of this?!” Harry demanded._

_“Lord Harry Mitchell-White, you are hereby punished for the crime of adultery, treason and conspiring against the King.” they said._

_“This is outrageous! You’ve no proof!” Harry said with confidence, although the truth was he panicked on the inside. How did they know?!_

_It was over. He knew this. There would be no trial, not by this king. The King had been known to be ruthless and unjust. His fate had been sealed._ _As he felt himself pushed on the cold, unforgiving stone in the dungeons, he felt himself scream in despair. He was so close_ _…_ _They were so close. To adventure, to love, to happiness_ _…_ _and just like that, it was all taken away._

_He wasn_ _’_ _t sure how long he_ _’_ _d stay in that dungeon. Next thing he knew, he heard footsteps. At first, he didn_ _’_ _t bother to look, but then he heard the unmistakable clanging of obnoxiously loud jewels and he knew it must have been the King himself, coming to gloat._

_The King stood in front of his cell, hidden by a shadow. Harry saw his great brown hair and his tall, muscled stature, looming over his petite, heartbroken Queen-To-Be, still in her nightgown, tears running down her eyes, and the King’s grip tighten around her arm._

_The sight of it made his blood boil._ _“_ _Do with me what you must, but do not harm her, she is innocent!_ _”_

_The King laughed,_ _“_ _Innocent?! I hardly think so! She has committed adultery and conspired to leave me! She is an unjust and ungodly woman!_ _”_

_“_ _It is not adultery, we_ _’_ _ve yet to marry!_ _”_ _she shot back at him. Even subdued, she still found the courage to fight back._ _“The only unjust and ungodly person here is you! You_ _’_ _ve given me no choice in who I can or can_ _’_ _t marry! You are forcing me against my will to be with you! You cannot pretend that you are a man of virtue!_ _”_

_“_ _Silence!_ _”_ _he commanded her, shaking her arm and slamming her against the stone wall._

_“_ _Lexie!_ _”_ _Harry called out, looking to make sure if she was okay. Though a bit in pain, she was okay. But Harry wasn_ _’_ _t. The grip he held on the bars of his cell got so tight, he swore he could bend it. If only he could rip apart these cells so he could destroy the King for harming his beloved._

_“_ _Do with me what you must. I do not care._ _”_ _she seethed against him,_ _“Strike me, torture me, kill me. I will have died knowing I fought for what I believe in and did not die a liar nor a hypocrite.”_

_“I will not kill you._ _”_ _the King glared at her._ _“_ _Your alliance is far too precious for me and the truth of the matter is despite your actions, you are still the wife I want. But that does not mean I cannot harm your paramour_ _…”_

_“_ _No!_ _”_ _she screamed, but next thing he knew, Harry felt cold steel stab into his heart._

_“_ _You monster!_ _”_ _he hears her scream. He hears a fight, struggling and screaming and finally, he could hear the sounds of a sword taking another life. But he was beginning to lose his vision_ _…_ _and all senses_ _…_

_He heard the cells open and to his relief, he saw Lexie, crying and holding his head on her lap as she held his hand._ _“_ _Oh, Harry_ _…_ _forgive me, I was too slow_ _…_ _I should have killed him when I had the chance_ _…”_

_“_ _Do not be sorry. Never be sorry to be, my Lexie_ _…_ _If the gods came to me right now, offered me life in exchange for erasing you from my life, I would refuse. We may not have had the life we dreamt of, but I loved the life I_ _’_ _ve led because it meant I had you in it_ _…”_ _Harry said weakly, feeling his last few breaths coming closer. He felt her cry against his chest, clutching his hand desperately. But as for him, he was happy. He is dying, but he dies doing what he thought was right. He dies knowing Lexie will be safe, both hers and his country free from a tyrannical king_ _’_ _s reign and she could only have happiness from here on out._

_“Perhaps in another life, my love, the gods will be fairer to us.” she says, touching his face one last time. “Find me, Harry, and promise me you will be bolder. Promise me you will not be afraid to tell me how you feel before it’s too late! Promise me we’ll be together and it will all end well!”_

_And with his last breath, he said, “I promise, my Queen…”_

* * *

Harry woke up in cold sweat. God, but that dream felt eerily real! 

If you’ve ever had a dream that felt so real, you’d know that the emotions you felt in that dream still linger long after you wake up. The same thing happened with Harry. Even after he woke up, he felt fear, anger, sadness but…happiness, knowing he was loved and loved someone back in return. 

It was all very confusing.

He glanced at the clock next to him. 2 am. Ugh. Sinfully early. He thought he’d try going back to sleep but he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to for a while. His heart was pumping too fast and the adrenaline was rushing through him too much right now. 

That dream…it felt like a sign. Well, if he was being honest, he’s been receiving many signs from everyone lately. About what he should do. What he shouldn’t do. 

So, he could toss and turn all night trying to sleep knowing he won’t. Or…he could already start to do something about his situation. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Without hesitation, he quickly jumped off his bed and ran towards the kitchen outside the villa. He’d grabbed a few ingredients and began cooking...

It took a few tries and he’s used up like…every ingredient after three failed attempts, but he finally got it right! Proud of his work, he went over to the bushes and grabbed a nice flower. He put it in a little vase, poured some tea in a mug with exactly one sugar and two teaspoons of milk (just the way she liked it), grabbed the food and presented it beautifully on the plate, put some napkins down, grabbed a fork and put everything into a small tray. 

Whoa. He’d never done this much work in cooking before. But he had to say, he felt extremely proud! This looked absolutely delicious!

He climbed up, excited to present this to his girl, but to his surprise, Lexie wasn’t in her bed. He went towards the toilets, but there was no light coming out of the cracks so no one was there. He peaked at the girls’ bathrooms and it was still empty. He began to get worried and had half a mind to go ask Seb for help. But then he remembered there was still the terrace, so he went up there to look. If anything, it should give him a better view of the villa.

To his relief, he saw Lexie there, wrapped up in a blanket, hands clutching a mug of hot chocolate and looking at the stars. She looked different tonight. Wearing her oversized pajama sweater, having her hair so messy, her face free of her usual sultry cat-eyes and red lipstick, she still looked as divine as she usually did, but in a softer way. It warmed Harry’s heart and he found himself smiling for no reason.

“There you are…” he said gently, careful not to scare her.

“Oh, hey, Harry.” she gave him a tired smile. She looked deep in thought and her face seemed slightly puffier than usual. She looked so different than she usually did. There wasn’t much emotion or energy in her voice. It looked more like she was trying very hard to seem happy when she wasn’t. It was very hard for Harry not to get worried.

“Are…you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I just have trouble sleeping sometimes.” she explains, waving it off. “Whacha got there?”

“Oh, um, this is…well…I did…um…” Harry stammered. He’d spend so long planning this little thing that he realised he didn’t exactly plan what to say when he finally saw her. He put the tray down in front of her and tried to find the right words to say. “Um. I felt bad, about everything lately. I keep telling you I want you but then all of our interactions is you initiating it. I realised it kinda makes me look like I’m pieing you off and that’s not true at all! But I know now that saying something is one thing, showing it is another. So…here I am showing it.” 

He put the tray down to reveal three beautiful pancake souffles. It was literally perfect, from the scent to the appearance to the taste. The presentation was the kind of thing people would take pictures of before eating and post it on Instagram. 

“You made this?” her eyes widened as she saw it. “This looks almost better than mine, even!” 

“Not really, no.” Harry blushed, “I mean, I made these to show that I really enjoyed our time this morning. And I listened to everything you said because I just like hearing you talk. Also I really wanted to show you that I _can_ cook. I mean, not as well as Camilo, but I can one day, if that’s what you want! I still messed it up a few times and it took me a few gos to get it looking that good, but yeah…I hope you like it. And I’m sorry I haven’t been trying very hard lately.”

“No one’s ever done something like this for me before.” she said softly, her fingertips tracing the plate like she was making sure this was real and not a dream. “Harry, this is…thank you, so much.” 

She leaned forward and hugged him. He sighed, relieved and happy she liked it! He hugged her back, relishing in her touch and the scent of her newly shampooed honey-scented hair. He felt a glimpse of what it would be like to cuddle her in her comfy pajamas and for a split second, he allowed himself to daydream that they were just waking up in the middle of the night and casually holding each other.

When they broke apart, she gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, too. I know I’ve been acting a bit petty lately. I guess earlier when I saw Gen grinding on you and you seemed to be in bliss, I just got so jealous and kind of mad at myself. I was thinking, ‘stupid girl, putting all your eggs in one basket when the guy you like doesn’t even mind getting grinded on by another girl’.”

“Um, I wouldn’t worry so much about what you saw earlier.” Harry blushed. “I know this is going to be like impossible to believe and it sounds like an excuse, but the truth is…I was only turned on as much as I was because I kept hearing you make those fake sex noises.”

Her eyes widened, “Oh!… _Oh.”_ She began to laugh a bit. “This all seems so silly now, doesn’t it?”

“Little bit.” he admitted, laughing too. 

“Well, I am a bit hungry.” she admitted sheepishly as she took a bite out of the pancake. She gave out a delighted squeal, “Harry, this is perfect! It’s fluffy and just the right amount of sugar…Wow, I’m impressed! This recipe isn't easy, especially for a novice cook!”

“I’m glad you like it!” Harry beamed, “I’m something, aren’t I? Can’t cook pasta to save my life but somehow I make a banging souffle.” 

“Souffle _pancake_. Souffles are a whole other game.” she told him.

“Well, that’s a game I wouldn’t mind playing if it’s with you.” he grinned at her.

“Oh, I would play with you _all night_ _long_.” she smirked and they both laughed. She offered him a bite of the pancake and they shared the meal in silence, occasionally looking up at the night sky. You’d think the silence was awkward, but instead, it was peaceful, serene and oddly enough, comfortable. 

He’d no clue how long they had stayed up in that terrace. It felt both too short and too quick. He could feel himself getting tired but he didn’t want to miss a second without Lexie.

Luckily, Lexie herself began to yawn and suggested they leave. They agreed, both heading back to the bedrooms. Just before entering, however, they gave each other a longing look. They’d have to separate for now. Harry back in Genevieve’s bad, Lexie back on her lonesome.

“I really like you, Harry.” she whispered to him, right before they parted ways for the night.

Feeling bold, he scooted closer towards her and slid his hand over hers, “I really like you, too, Lexie.”

With that, he leaned forward and shared a soft goodnight kiss in a dark hallway with only moonlight guiding them.

“I really hope this goes well.” Lexie whispered against his lips.

Before he could stop it, he could only answer one way: “I promise it will, my Queen…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man this was fun to write! Especially the food fight scene, which included so many references I can't even...
> 
> The dream sequence was pretty funny if I'm being honest. I intended to be as dramatic as possible because, well, let's be honest, we're all a bit overdramatic in our dreams lol Harry's imagination gets pretty wild, don't you think?
> 
> Ugh, I need a man who will cook me something at 2am just because of a nightmare he's had that we don't end up together. I really should stop writing stories, gives me high expectations for people IRL then I get clowned XD Anyway, stay tuned!
> 
> The King is someone in the game btw...but not someone we've met yet. If you're active in the game's subreddit you might have a clue on who the King could be. Ofc the King is based on someone we don't know yet and he's probably a sweetie but for the purposes of the story, he exists as an embodiment of Harry's fears lol 
> 
> I really, really hope Harry doesn't clown us one way or another because I'm getting invested in this story but if he pulls Cherrygate or Roccogate I swear the next chapter will be Lexie drowning him in the pool villa and the story will end there MARK MY WORDS XD


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